Tatak Iloilo Products featuring Badiangan Blades: Black Kukri's Amazing Handle Design!

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Blacksmithing or “pagpamanday” is considered an ancient tradition in Badiangan. Its town festival celebrated every 3rd week of June pays homage to this indigenous industry that became its lifeblood and a form of creative expression of its people.
So steeped was their tradition in blade-making that their ancestors produced different kinds of bolo or “binangon” with specific uses, among which the wood-cutting and gardening variety like the “Wasay” for lumber work and cutting bigger trees, and the “Binakuko” for chopping wood; “Sinuwak” and “Ginunting” for carpentry and cutting shrubs and smaller trees; and “Linamay” “Surot” and “Balintawak” for gardening. They have knives for kitchen use like the “Tangkap” and “Pinuti,” which is specifically designed for slicing meat, and of course, the farming blade, called “Kayog,” which they use to harvest rice.
Pagpamanday is often a household enterprise. Blacksmiths inherit the craft from their own fathers and they pass it on to their offspring. In the village of Bingauan (Badiangan), for instance, it is common to see a “pandayan” or a blacksmithing shed in households. This barangay is considered home to the finest makers of binangon.
Bingauan’s binangon is known for its durability and craftsmanship. But producing them is no easy feat. Sometimes it takes a day to finish a single bolo. This is because most Badiangan blacksmiths still employ the same primitive forging technology of their ancestors, like the use of earthen or stone furnaces.
Blade-making also involves highly-developed metal-making skill and brute strength to fashion steel into shape, and often requires the combined efforts of family members. The men are in charge of woodwork, like the fashioning of handle made of hardwood, and of the heavy labor such as the pounding of mallet to flatten the hot metal. They also take on the more delicate task of forming and sharpening the blade. The women, usually the wives, take care of the “hasiwas” – an improvised bellows made of two wooden implements, that when continuously pumped, blow air and fan the coal that heats the metal. They also weave the pikit, or the design used in the sheath. For all the works put in the production of a single bolo, it is no wonder they don’t come cheaply.
Nowadays, blade-making remains a major source of livelihood in Badiangan, but the craftsmen population have drastically fallen and concerns have been raised about this fading tradition. Aside from the high cost of materials, a major threat portending its disappearance is the ebbing away of interest for blacksmithing among the youth in Badiangan.